He turned to Changyu and asked, "You just mentioned opening a shop in Qinghui. Have you thought it all through? Opening a shop costs a lot of money, you know. It might be a bit difficult for our family."

Changyu beamed and said, "Dad, do you really think your son is that clueless? That I’d ask you to dip into your life savings for my business? I have this idea, but I don’t plan on spending much. I just want to start a small business, like the one the Qingmu family had last year selling pig offal."

Li Gengtian was a little surprised. "That pig offal sells for a high price now. That business..."

Li Changyu quickly cut him off. "I’m not going into the pig offal business. I mean I want to be like them and start a business without a lot of capital."

Li Gengtian saw that his son was already using his head to think things through before even starting. This was far more sensible than those who rushed into business without a comprehensive plan.

He asked happily, "So, have you decided what you want to do? Tell me, and I’ll help you think it over. I may be a villager, but I’ve lived for decades. I’ve seen a thing or two."

Li Changyu smiled. "This is exactly what I need your help with, Dad. I was thinking, city folk have seen it all, and there are so many merchants. We can’t compete with them. I can only make things they don’t have, things they’ve never seen before, and things that don’t cost much to start." He finished with a proud look at his father.

Seeing his father’s stunned expression, Li Changfeng shot his younger brother a look. "Hurry up and say it. Dad’s busy. Who has time to listen to you ramble?"

Li Changyu chuckled. "Alright! Dad, think about it. If we buy things from our own village to sell, the initial cost would be low, right? And if we’re short on cash, we could surely pay a little later. Isn’t our village’s acorn tofu something they don’t have in Qinghui County? And as for that spicy cabbage, only the Chen Yu family sells it; most people don’t know how to make it. Then there’s the chrysanthemum tea. You can’t find that anywhere else... no, they must have wild chrysanthemums, but they just don’t know how to prepare it yet. I plan to build my business around these things."

Li Gengtian’s eyes lit up. He slapped his thigh and laughed. "You’re right! All those things are produced right here in our village. It’s certainly more reliable than buying from outsiders. Good! Changyu, this is a solid idea, not some harebrained scheme."

Li Changyu grinned. "’Harebrained’? I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. How could I not have a good plan? Dad, I also need to find Juhua and ask her how she prepares that acorn tofu."

Li Gengtian quickly said, "Your mother knows how. No need to ask her."

Li Changyu said, "Not making the tofu, but cooking it. I bet Juhua knows a lot of different ways to prepare it. Haven’t you seen how many different dishes she made out of that pig offal? Also, Qingmu and Huai Zi keep asking me about things in Qinghui County. I think they might be planning something too. I want to talk it over with them and see if we can all partner up."

Li Gengtian immediately said, "Those two lads are sharp. You should definitely talk with them more."

He then told him about Zhang Huai and Qingmu’s proposal to plant trees and raise fish.

Li Changyu’s expression turned serious. He nodded and said, "Huai Zi and Qingmu are capable, but they haven’t thought about opening a shop out of town. If I open a shop in Qinghui County and they manage things in the village, wouldn’t the business be up and running? We can’t rely on just you, Dad. I feel like we can’t do this without their help, especially Juhua’s."

Li Gengtian nodded in agreement. He said to his son, "Then you should go and hash things out with them. This business of yours will depend on the villagers."

With that, he stood up and said, "I’m going out to greet the guests. You shouldn’t stay cooped up in your room, either. Your grandfather is still worried about you. Go let him see you." He then left the room first.

Li Changfeng smiled at his younger brother. "Satisfied now?"

Li Changyu laughed. "What’s there to be satisfied about? It’s just like you becoming a Scholar—the road ahead is only going to get harder. Let’s have a competition, you and I. We’ll see who runs faster."

Li Changfeng chuckled. "I can’t compete with you. I might never pass the exam to become a provincial scholar. When that time comes, I’ll be counting on you to support this poor, old scholar."

Li Changyu said, "That’s easy. If you really can’t make it, you at least know how to do sums, right? You can just be my bookkeeper."

This made Li Changfeng laugh. The two brothers then left the room together.

Once outside in the courtyard, Li Changyu found Zhang Huai and Qingmu, who were helping out, and joined them in their work. After the guests had left that evening, he talked with them for a long while.

When Qingmu returned home that night, he told Juhua about Li Changyu’s idea.

Juhua’s eyes lit up when she heard. She had been worrying that they had no one to act as an advance guard in Qinghui County. That meant the entire sales process would be in the hands of others, leaving farmers like them, who rely on selling their produce, vulnerable to being taken advantage of.

If Li Changyu were to run the business himself, things would be much easier.

She smiled at Qingmu. "Brother, it’s a good thing that Changyu is opening a shop in Qinghui. But we can’t rely on others for everything; we need our own plans too. This time, I’m going to change the flavor of the spicy cabbage. Also, for the pork, once we butcher the pigs, I’m going to work with Liu Xiaomei to figure out a few kinds of cured meats. We definitely can’t share the recipes for these things with anyone."

Qingmu smiled. "So when he comes tomorrow to ask you for the acorn tofu recipe, are you not going to tell him?"

Juhua shook her head. "I’ll tell him. Why wouldn’t I? Otherwise, the recipe will just sit around and gather dust. If I tell him, the more tofu he sells, the more of our acorn flour he’ll buy, right? But we need to make a deal with him: the acorn flour must be bought from the village. His father can’t be the one to provide it."

Qingmu was surprised. "His father doesn’t have that much acorn flour. Of course he’ll have to buy it from the village." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Juhua laughed. "That may be true, but what if his family gets greedy for money and decides to gather all the acorns and make the flour themselves? Then we’d be out of luck, wouldn’t we? I need to make an agreement with him. He can’t just be focused on getting rich himself; this ingredient must be bought from the village. When everyone in our village is making money, things will be much easier in the future. After all, the mountain belongs to the village."